No go for green lawsuit

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta State Administrative Court dismissed yesterday a lawsuit filed by five environmental activists against President Soeharto for his plan to divert huge sums of reforestation funds to a private pulp and paper company.

Presiding Judge Lintong Oloan Siahaan said his court did not have the authority to pass judgment on the constitutionality of any presidential decree.

Nurul Almy Hafild, executive director of the Indonesian Forum For Environment (Walhi), and four other Walhi members had filed the lawsuit requesting the court to annul Presidential Decree No.93/1996 which granted Rp 250 billion (US$105 million) to PT Kiani Kertas to help finance the development of a $1 billion pulp and paper mill in Berau Regency, East Kalimantan.

Bambang Widjojanto, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, who is representing the plaintiffs said his clients were still considering whether to appeal against the decision.

PT Kiani Kertas, a subsidiary of the Kalimanis Group owned by tycoon Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, is developing a 500,000-ton-a-year- mill on a 3,400 hectares. The mill is due to start operating this year.

The plaintiffs cited the 1982 Environmental Law which guarantees that every one has the right to a good and healthy living environment and has the duty to preserve and prevent it from being polluted and destroyed.

They said the Berau pulp and paper project threatened the environment with toxic air pollution. (05)